Sony and Panasonic joining forces to produce OLED TVs

Times are tough in tech at the moment, and with a recession going on it's tough trying to convince people to buy the latest, most expensive gear. Sony and Panasonic think the best way to tackle the problem is to pool their resources to bring down the cost of state of the art OLED TVs, BGR reports.

The two companies will work together to develop technology to help make OLED sets more affordable. The deal isn't official at the time of writing, but we're expecting an announcement next week.

Currently OLED sets cost an absolute fortune. Sony pioneered the tech back in 2007 with an 11-inch model (pictured) that would set you back a ridiculous £3,500 when it went on sale in the UK a couple of years later. Yes, £3,500.

Picture quality on an OLED set is much better than standard LCD or plasma, thanks to deeper colour saturation and greater contrast ratios. OLED sets are slimmer, and use far less power too. In fact, the only downside is the price.

But the fact companies are touting much larger sets hints that the tech is becoming more mainstream. Sure, a 55-inch OLED TV might cost you £8,000, but a model of that size was unthinkable a few years ago.

Japanese TV companies have lost ground to Korean rivals LG and Samsung in recent years. Sony is having a tough time of it at the moment, posting dismal financials and cutting thousands of jobs worldwide. It's also said to be investing in Olympus in an attempt to try and dominate the medical world, though we'll have to wait for official confirmation.

Are you excited by OLED? How much would you pay for a 55-inch set? And can Sony and Panasonic claw back valuable market share by giving it a go together? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.